Executive Summary
Background:
Conewago Township Elementary is an elementary school located in Hanover, Pennsylvania. It is a small school that provides an education for students in grades K-3. Also in this building are classrooms for hearing impaired students, neurologically impaired children, as well as learning support classrooms. This building is comprised of 3 half-day Kindergarten classrooms and 1 all day Kindergarten classroom, 6 first grade classrooms, 6 second grade classrooms, and 6 third grade classrooms. It also houses 3 learning support teachers, 4 ‘specials’ teachers, 2 Reading Recovery specialists and 1 Literacy Coach, 1 ELL teacher that is split between more than 1 building, 1 Guidance Counselor, 1 Nurse, 1 Gifted teacher, 5 employees employed by the LIU, 9 Instructional aides, 4 support staff members, 4 Cafeteria workers, and 1 Principal. All of these faculty and staff members play a major role in helping this school operate on a daily basis. The school is made up of approximately 560 students that range from age 5 to 9.
Mission Statement:
The mission statement of the school district that this school is a part of is "The Conewago Valley School District, in partnership with family and community is to develop productive and responsible citizens by education students to their fullest potential" (from district website www.conewago.k12.pa.us). This school has a responsibility to the students to provide them with a quality education which means they need to have faculty and staff members that are well trained and can perform the necessary tasks to accomplish this goal. The teachers in this school need to be well trained in ‘how’ to teach students and the most effective way to go about teaching. The support staff members need to be trained in the routines of the school as well as the goals that the school has for their students. All of these employees need to be guided by the school district in order to meet the district’s goal which happens to be the mission statement.
Business Need
The school has recently implemented a new reading series. This series is just a tool being used in order to teach our district's curriculum. Each grade level needs to be consistent with the materials being chosen from the series used to teach the curriculum.
The Problem:
There is a lot of material included in the series and it is too much to cover. This creates inconsistency among the classrooms because teachers are choosing different activities based on what they feel is the most important.
Tasks and Conditions of the Job:
Teachers need to have knowledge of all of the different components of the series and how to implement them into their classroom for everyday use.
Current Performance Levels:
Teachers are choosing materials and activities at random based on what they feel is important.
Causes of the Problem:
Teachers do not have adequate training on each of the components of the series.
Teachers do not collaborate on what they are using in their classroom.
Desired Outcome:
At each grade level, teachers should have knowledge of each component and should collaborate. They should be using the same materials to teach core concepts and supplementing with others in order to meet their specific classroom needs.
Learning Opportunity
The learning opportunity here would be for each teacher to gain knowledge of all of the components of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. Two teachers from each grade level will collaborate with the grade level as a team to discuss what they feel they need to have better training on. Those two teachers will take the information from their team mates and observe other teachers at school districts teaching with HM. They will have the oppotunity to ask questions and learn more from the teachers that have successfully implemented the program successfully.
Once the teachers have observed, they will come back and share with their grade level what they have learned. Once this has all taken place, the teachers will collaborate on how to determine what to use from the series to meet the school curriculum needs.
Expected Benefits
The benefits of this training are:
-Each teacher will have the confidence they need to teach this program successfully.
-Each teacher will have a better understanding of each of the components to the series.
-Teachers will collaborate on curriculum of the district and what they tools they need to teach it.
Audience Analysis
The target audience here is teachers that teach in grades K-3. Out of the 16 responses received from the recent survey, only 2 of those teachers felt ready to teach from Houghton Mifflin at the beginning of the school year. 14 of those who responed said that they would like an opportunity to have more training on this series. They also felt that there needed to be more consistency among the grade level in their building as well as among the other K-3 building in our district.
After interviews with several teachers, they are frustrated with the lack of consistency among grade level. Most of the teachers felt as though they are choosing what they feel is the most appropriate but are worried that it may not be following the districts curriculum or following what the other teachers may be doing.
Project Design
This training will consist of several methods of learning. It is being proposed that two teachers from each grade level (two that fully understand what they are to be looking for) observe other teachers that have been successful in implementing the Houghton Mifflin reading series in their classroom and have been using it for several years. The teachers from CVSD that are observing will have the opportunity to ask questions about the series. These questions will be developed by the teachers as a grade level.
(For this portion, school districts will have to be researched and chosen based on what the district feels is "successful" implementation of HM.")
The two teachers that went to observe will collaborate and then present the information to the grade level. Each grade level will meet seperately at first but later to discuss what needs to remain consistent throughout the grade levels.
Finally, the teachers will work closely with the curriculum director of the district to organize the material of HM to make it user-friendly for the teachers.
Project Success Measures
Classroom observations done by adminitrators
Results of student test scores (various types of tests)
Out of Scope
Teaching methods
Classroom Management techniques
Estimated Project Costs
-Cost of substitutes while observing (one day): 8 substitutes x $90 per day= $720
-Cost of traveling to schools will vary depending on length of trip to school ( $0.45 per mile)
-Cost of substitutes while collaborating (one day): 8 substitutes x $90 per day= $720
-Use of inservice day for teachers to present information from observations and collaborations
-Cost of extra time for 2 teachers per grade level for 2-3 days to collaborate with district curriculum director to organize HM to meet the district's needs: $20/hour per teacher for 8 hours a day= $3840
Section 2 - Performance Analysis
Design Document Job/Task Analysis(This is just a small piece to the Job as whole. The task analysis is based on only one component of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. In the training, all of the components will be taught. In this analysis, the phonics component is shown.)
Task
Subtasks
Frequency
Importance
Learning
Risk
Teach basic phonics skills using practice book pages
know basic phonics skills
understand basic phonics skills
explain phonics rules and skills
demonstrate directions
4
4
2
2
Demonstrate how to use phonics skills while reading
Apply phonics/decoding skills through phonics readers
Explain think alouds
find words to decode
Model how to decode using given strategy
4
4
3
2
Use spelling component to teach phonics skill
Select appropriate activities to teach skill
use practice book to guide students
4
3
2
2
Analyze student knowledge of skill
Use practice book pages
weekly test
4
4
3
1
Design/Redesign instruction based on analysis
Use knowledge of program and phonics skills
review skills to ensure success
4
4
2
1
Section 3-Learning Objectives
Goals: By the end of this training, the teachers will have a knowledge base of the phonics component of HM
Objectives:The teachers will be able to:
Develop lesson plans using HM components while following curriculum guide of district
Identify appropriate activities for specific phonics skills
Utilize each part of the phonics component
Analyze student learning using assessments included in series
Section 4-Delivery Plan
Materials:
Observation Day:
Transportation Mode
Observed School district will need to provide one teacher from each grade level that has successful experience in using HM.
The teachers will need their lists of questions, concerns, and what they are looking for while observing
Paper/pencil to take notes
Collaboration Day:
Conference room for each grade level to meet in
Teachers will need HM materials from all themes to use as a reference when creating minilesson for presentation to rest of grade level
Paper/pencil
Presentation Day:
HM reading materials for minilesson including whiteboards
Empty classrooms for each grade level to meet for entire day
Paper/pencil to take note
Curriculum Day:
Curriculum Director of CVSD
Curriculum Guide for Reading
All materials associated with HM reading series
Lesson Plan formats to create lessons
Trainer:
The trainers will be the teachers that are chosen from the district that have gone through the observing process. Once they have observed other teachers and have had the opportunity to discuss and learn about each component of HM, they will become the SMEs and train the other teachers based on what they have learned.
Estimated Cost:
Cost of substitutes for all days: $1440
Milage costs: To be determined (will be based on what schools the administrators choose to be observed)
Cost of extra time: $3840
Instruction Format:
*This portion is based on the Phonics slice of Houghton Mifflin. This will take place on the Presentation day. The teachers will now have had the opportunity to observe the phonics component being put to use as well as discussions with teachers that have been successful in using HM in the classroom.
Outline
Presentation Day: (Phonic Component)
The teachers will be gathered in an empty classroom. Each grade level will meet seperately. The presenters will have a minilesson prepared and will begin with the minilesson. The following outline is specific to the "Phonics Slice" of my training.
Phonics
I. Review All Components
a. Phonics Library
b. Practice Book Pages
c. Phonics Lessons in Manual
II. Minilessons using each component
III. Spelling Component (how it relates to the phonics)
IV. Assessments
a. Using them in the classroom
b. Analyzing the data
c. Using the data to drive instruction
As stated before, this portion of the outline is a small chunk of the training as a whole.
Section 5-Evaluation Plan
The evaluations for this program will be done by administrators and the teachers themselves (through reflective work and observing each other). The teachers will successfully need to develop lesson plans and deliver with success as well. In doing this, they will need to select appropriate activities from the HM manual to meet the curriculum needs for the disctrict. This will be proven through the creation of a binder with materials and activities that are chosen and stated in print. This will help guide future teachers that are just entering the district. In addition to this, the teachers will meet for grade level meetings to discuss the progress and monitor where everyone is in the process. Also, the administrators will come into the classrooms to observe whether each teacher has been successful in implementing the series into the classroom.
Section 1 - Need Analysis Report
Executive Summary
Background:
Conewago Township Elementary is an elementary school located in Hanover, Pennsylvania. It is a small school that provides an education for students in grades K-3. Also in this building are classrooms for hearing impaired students, neurologically impaired children, as well as learning support classrooms. This building is comprised of 3 half-day Kindergarten classrooms and 1 all day Kindergarten classroom, 6 first grade classrooms, 6 second grade classrooms, and 6 third grade classrooms. It also houses 3 learning support teachers, 4 ‘specials’ teachers, 2 Reading Recovery specialists and 1 Literacy Coach, 1 ELL teacher that is split between more than 1 building, 1 Guidance Counselor, 1 Nurse, 1 Gifted teacher, 5 employees employed by the LIU, 9 Instructional aides, 4 support staff members, 4 Cafeteria workers, and 1 Principal. All of these faculty and staff members play a major role in helping this school operate on a daily basis. The school is made up of approximately 560 students that range from age 5 to 9.
Mission Statement:
The mission statement of the school district that this school is a part of is "The Conewago Valley School District, in partnership with family and community is to develop productive and responsible citizens by education students to their fullest potential" (from district website www.conewago.k12.pa.us). This school has a responsibility to the students to provide them with a quality education which means they need to have faculty and staff members that are well trained and can perform the necessary tasks to accomplish this goal. The teachers in this school need to be well trained in ‘how’ to teach students and the most effective way to go about teaching. The support staff members need to be trained in the routines of the school as well as the goals that the school has for their students. All of these employees need to be guided by the school district in order to meet the district’s goal which happens to be the mission statement.
Business Need
The school has recently implemented a new reading series. This series is just a tool being used in order to teach our district's curriculum. Each grade level needs to be consistent with the materials being chosen from the series used to teach the curriculum.
The Problem:
There is a lot of material included in the series and it is too much to cover. This creates inconsistency among the classrooms because teachers are choosing different activities based on what they feel is the most important.
Tasks and Conditions of the Job:
Teachers need to have knowledge of all of the different components of the series and how to implement them into their classroom for everyday use.
Current Performance Levels:
Teachers are choosing materials and activities at random based on what they feel is important.
Causes of the Problem:
Teachers do not have adequate training on each of the components of the series.
Teachers do not collaborate on what they are using in their classroom.
Desired Outcome:
At each grade level, teachers should have knowledge of each component and should collaborate. They should be using the same materials to teach core concepts and supplementing with others in order to meet their specific classroom needs.
Learning Opportunity
The learning opportunity here would be for each teacher to gain knowledge of all of the components of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. Two teachers from each grade level will collaborate with the grade level as a team to discuss what they feel they need to have better training on. Those two teachers will take the information from their team mates and observe other teachers at school districts teaching with HM. They will have the oppotunity to ask questions and learn more from the teachers that have successfully implemented the program successfully.
Once the teachers have observed, they will come back and share with their grade level what they have learned. Once this has all taken place, the teachers will collaborate on how to determine what to use from the series to meet the school curriculum needs.
Expected Benefits
The benefits of this training are:
-Each teacher will have the confidence they need to teach this program successfully.
-Each teacher will have a better understanding of each of the components to the series.
-Teachers will collaborate on curriculum of the district and what they tools they need to teach it.
Audience Analysis
The target audience here is teachers that teach in grades K-3. Out of the 16 responses received from the recent survey, only 2 of those teachers felt ready to teach from Houghton Mifflin at the beginning of the school year. 14 of those who responed said that they would like an opportunity to have more training on this series. They also felt that there needed to be more consistency among the grade level in their building as well as among the other K-3 building in our district.
After interviews with several teachers, they are frustrated with the lack of consistency among grade level. Most of the teachers felt as though they are choosing what they feel is the most appropriate but are worried that it may not be following the districts curriculum or following what the other teachers may be doing.
Project Design
This training will consist of several methods of learning. It is being proposed that two teachers from each grade level (two that fully understand what they are to be looking for) observe other teachers that have been successful in implementing the Houghton Mifflin reading series in their classroom and have been using it for several years. The teachers from CVSD that are observing will have the opportunity to ask questions about the series. These questions will be developed by the teachers as a grade level.
(For this portion, school districts will have to be researched and chosen based on what the district feels is "successful" implementation of HM.")
The two teachers that went to observe will collaborate and then present the information to the grade level. Each grade level will meet seperately at first but later to discuss what needs to remain consistent throughout the grade levels.
Finally, the teachers will work closely with the curriculum director of the district to organize the material of HM to make it user-friendly for the teachers.
Project Success Measures
Classroom observations done by adminitrators
Results of student test scores (various types of tests)
Out of Scope
Teaching methods
Classroom Management techniques
Estimated Project Costs
-Cost of substitutes while observing (one day): 8 substitutes x $90 per day= $720
-Cost of traveling to schools will vary depending on length of trip to school ( $0.45 per mile)
-Cost of substitutes while collaborating (one day): 8 substitutes x $90 per day= $720
-Use of inservice day for teachers to present information from observations and collaborations
-Cost of extra time for 2 teachers per grade level for 2-3 days to collaborate with district curriculum director to organize HM to meet the district's needs: $20/hour per teacher for 8 hours a day= $3840
Section 2 - Performance Analysis
Design Document Job/Task Analysis(This is just a small piece to the Job as whole. The task analysis is based on only one component of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. In the training, all of the components will be taught. In this analysis, the phonics component is shown.)
Section 3-Learning Objectives
Goals: By the end of this training, the teachers will have a knowledge base of the phonics component of HM
Objectives:The teachers will be able to:
Develop lesson plans using HM components while following curriculum guide of district
Identify appropriate activities for specific phonics skills
Utilize each part of the phonics component
Analyze student learning using assessments included in series
Section 4-Delivery Plan
Materials:
Observation Day:
Transportation Mode
Observed School district will need to provide one teacher from each grade level that has successful experience in using HM.
The teachers will need their lists of questions, concerns, and what they are looking for while observing
Paper/pencil to take notes
Collaboration Day:
Conference room for each grade level to meet in
Teachers will need HM materials from all themes to use as a reference when creating minilesson for presentation to rest of grade level
Paper/pencil
Presentation Day:
HM reading materials for minilesson including whiteboards
Empty classrooms for each grade level to meet for entire day
Paper/pencil to take note
Curriculum Day:
Curriculum Director of CVSD
Curriculum Guide for Reading
All materials associated with HM reading series
Lesson Plan formats to create lessons
Trainer:
The trainers will be the teachers that are chosen from the district that have gone through the observing process. Once they have observed other teachers and have had the opportunity to discuss and learn about each component of HM, they will become the SMEs and train the other teachers based on what they have learned.
Estimated Cost:
Cost of substitutes for all days: $1440
Milage costs: To be determined (will be based on what schools the administrators choose to be observed)
Cost of extra time: $3840
Instruction Format:
*This portion is based on the Phonics slice of Houghton Mifflin. This will take place on the Presentation day. The teachers will now have had the opportunity to observe the phonics component being put to use as well as discussions with teachers that have been successful in using HM in the classroom.
Outline
Presentation Day: (Phonic Component)
The teachers will be gathered in an empty classroom. Each grade level will meet seperately. The presenters will have a minilesson prepared and will begin with the minilesson. The following outline is specific to the "Phonics Slice" of my training.
Phonics
I. Review All Components
a. Phonics Library
b. Practice Book Pages
c. Phonics Lessons in Manual
II. Minilessons using each component
III. Spelling Component (how it relates to the phonics)
IV. Assessments
a. Using them in the classroom
b. Analyzing the data
c. Using the data to drive instruction
As stated before, this portion of the outline is a small chunk of the training as a whole.
Section 5-Evaluation Plan
The evaluations for this program will be done by administrators and the teachers themselves (through reflective work and observing each other). The teachers will successfully need to develop lesson plans and deliver with success as well. In doing this, they will need to select appropriate activities from the HM manual to meet the curriculum needs for the disctrict. This will be proven through the creation of a binder with materials and activities that are chosen and stated in print. This will help guide future teachers that are just entering the district. In addition to this, the teachers will meet for grade level meetings to discuss the progress and monitor where everyone is in the process. Also, the administrators will come into the classrooms to observe whether each teacher has been successful in implementing the series into the classroom.